Toronto strip-club committe proposals to go to council

TORONTO – Changes could be coming to the licensing rules for Toronto’s adult entertainment establishments.

Toronto’s licensing and standards committee has approved changes to a no-touch policy that are designed to protect adult entertainment workers.

The committee agreed to change the wording of the current policy to include specific body parts that should be hands off between adult entertainers and patrons.

The committee also approved changes that would require the clubs’ private rooms to have one side that is either open or made out of transparent material, such as glass.

The committee recommended that these rooms provide unobstructed access to the club’s entrances and exits.

The proposed amendments will go to city council for final approval on Oct. 30, and would take effect Feb. 1, 2013, if approved by council.

Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker said spelling out the no-touch rules will make it easier to prevent safety risks like the sexual and physical assault of adult entertainers.

“It’s not when you shake your hand that you’re going to get into trouble, it’s when you start shaking the other body parts,” De Baeremaeker said Friday. “There’s a list of body parts that you can’t touch now and I think that’s pretty clear. This makes it more enforceable.”

Retired exotic dancer Mary Taylor said the current design of club’s private rooms place entertainers in danger.

“You can’t see what’s happening inside those rooms,” Taylor said. “If the patrons are intoxicated, these girls do whatever is asked of them because they feel that don’t have any choice.”

Other safety recommendations that the committee agreed to were that on-site security personnel must be licensed and required to wear visible security identification.